Tin Jigs

[Bigmouth]

Has anyone had any experience in casting tin jig heads, or, even better, fishing with them?  I cast about fifty or so a few years back,  and didn’t see much difference between lead and tin during the casting and the powder painting processes.  I used a 0.50 oz  lead cavity, and the tin heads weighed in at 0.25 oz,  Unpainted tin jig heads remain a bright silver color for years, which is good for the few guys who want that appearance.  The cost of tin for the 0.25 oz head was about $0.25, a lot more than lead, but in the smaller sized jigs, probably not a deal breaker.  

 

[cadman]

17 minutes ago, Bigmouth said:

Has anyone had any experience in casting tin jig heads, or, even better, fishing with them?  I cast about fifty or so a few years back,  and didn’t see much difference between lead and tin during the casting and the powder painting processes.  I used a 0.50 oz  lead cavity, and the tin heads weighed in at 0.25 oz,  Unpainted tin jig heads remain a bright silver color for years, which is good for the few guys who want that appearance.  The cost of tin for the 0.25 oz head was about $0.25, a lot more than lead, but in the smaller sized jigs, probably not a deal breaker.  

 

 

Welcome to TU.  If you are referring to tin jigs as jigs made out of Lead Free  (bismuth,  tin , pewter) than I do cast quite a few of them in my standard molds. There are some drawbacks to this but , some New England states have a ban on some lead jigs. With that said, no lead jigs are harder to release from a mold, and since their melting point is lower, it is harder to  powder coat them.  Lead free jigs are about 1/3 less in weight size for size than lead jigs. Also I don't know what you are using, but bismuth is about $15.00 per/lb, which is pretty expensive compared to lead prices about $2.00 /lb.

In fishing with lead versus bismuth/tin/pewter. I see no difference, other than if you need to get down deeper quicker, you will need a larger jig head profile if you go with anything else but lead.  I fish a lot of 1/8 and max 1/4 oz jig heads for bass, and I fish them in lead and bismuth. No difference at all as far as quality or bites. Just take a little longer to get thru the water column.

Edited July 11, 2018 by cadman

[Bigmouth]

Cadman,  the alloy I used was plumber’s solder, consisting  of 90% tin and 10% silver, at a cost of about $15.00 per pound.  It came out of the mold fine, maybe the silver had something to do with that.  For the powder painting, I heated the jigs to a temperature of 185 degrees prior to the paint dip,  mainly to minimize the problem of cleaning out the hook eye afterward.  The jigs came out of the paint dip looking sort of, “fuzzy,” but it was easy to clean off the hook eye.  The final bake was done at 275 degrees for thirty minutes.  Results were good.

Thanks for the on the water report.  It was reassuring to hear that lead could be replaced in jigs, albeit at a somewhat higher price, if necessary, without negatively impacting the catch.

 

Edited July 11, 2018 by Bigmouth
Reword

[cadman]

29 minutes ago, Bigmouth said:

Cadman,  the alloy I used was plumber’s solder, consisting  of 90% tin and 10% silver, at a cost of about $15.00 per pound.  It came out of the mold fine, maybe the silver had something to do with that.  For the powder painting, I heated the jigs to a temperature of 185 degrees prior to the paint dip,  mainly to minimize the problem of cleaning out the hook eye afterward.  The jigs came out of the paint dip looking sort of, “fuzzy,” but it was easy to clean off the hook eye.  The final bake was done at 275 degrees for thirty minutes.  Results were good.

Thanks for the on the water report.  It was reassuring to hear that lead could be replaced in jigs, albeit at a somewhat higher price, if necessary, without negatively impacting the catch.

 

 

When I paint bismuth and use powder paint, I have to  lower the temp, so I don't melt the bismuth. Other than that, I have no problem pouring lead-free.  Some molds release the bismuth better than others. The ones I found that are easier to release are jigs with smooth surface and no features on their sides. Like a round head jig, Bullet bass, or football jig. The Poison Tail mold is troublesome, but I manage to get good pours.

I know there is a lot of debate about lead and lead-free jigs, but I try to accommodate everyone.